Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2012
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: E.W. Bopp

POT FULL OF TAX; TOURISM TOO

To the editor:

Re: More Mayors Should Follow Lake Country's Baker on Pot Issue, May 
1 Capital News.

Hallelujah! After four former B.C. attorneys-general joined four 
former Vancouver mayors endorsing an end to marijuana prohibition, 
eight sitting B.C. mayors have now echoed the clarion call for 
marijuana reform.

Legalize, regulate and tax the heck out of pot and, presto, 
gang-related violent crime in our communities and fear among our 
citizens would disappear.

But wait, that's not all. The collateral benefit of a "potted" Canada 
will be of having solved, virtually overnight, Canada's problem of 
declining tourism from south of the border and elsewhere.

Just think of the enormous tourism potential of a mass influx of 
drug-deprived folks descending on the "True north, strong and free 
and legally drugged," pouring untold millions of much-needed dollars 
into our struggling economy with many undoubtedly wishing to stay permanently.

Indeed, that's the kind of stimulus (pun intended) that would really 
help us all get through these hard economic times with a buzz.

On a less euphoric note, however, the myths and fallacies of "ending 
marijuana prohibition" are many. Contrary to the oft-cited 1930s 
prohibition argument, here are just two, as outlined by the Canadian 
Police Association:

Myth 1: Legalization will drive the crime rate down.

Myth 2: Organized crime would be reduced if drugs were legalized.

While the proponents of marijuana legalization may consider the above 
mere police propaganda, I would nevertheless challenge them to 
provide us with a view of whatever reality they are coming from.

Perhaps we should temper the revisionist view of pot legalizers who 
take their history from celluloid prohibition images of 1930s gangster movies.

E.W. Bopp,

Tsawwasssen
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